Monday, January 18, 2010

Cherry Brown Butter Bars

Huge Spanish Cherries




I know this is late, but I made some amazing bars with these cherries the day I got back from Europe! These cherries may not look like anything much to you, but considering the kind of tiny cherries we get here in India, these were a real find. And I just knew I had to make something spectacular with them. I'd had my eyes on these bars from Deb's site since forever, so I chose to go with them. Anything that has Deb's endorsement, you just know it HAS to be heavenly!


I decided not to experiment too much, and just stick to the tried and trusted, having the fear of my precious cherries going waste in my mind. And thank the lord I didn't. Because these bars, were over-the-top AMAZING!! It took less than a day for these to get over, I barely had any pieces left for pictures! They taste pretty much like a clafoutis, but better, since the crust gives it an amazing texture and mouth-feel. Ofcourse, you can also make these in the tart form, following this recipe.


Cherry Brown Butter Bars being prepped


Cherry Brown Butter Bars
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen


I reduced the amount keeping in accordance with the amount of cherries I had, but I'm giving the actual amounts to you!


For the crust:
7 tbsp [100 g] unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup [75 g] sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup + 1 tbsp [160 g] flour
Pinch of salt


For the filling:
1/2 cup [115 g] sugar
2 large eggs
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup [35 g] flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
1 pound sweet cherries, which will yield 12 ounces of pitted cherries plus leftovers (you could also use 12 oz of any other berry) (I used a little more, which is why mine is so berry-ful :p)



Instructions
For the Crust - 
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F [180 C]. Grease and line a 8 inch square pan - It is important to line the pan, and possibly leave some overhang, if you want nice neat pieces.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the flour and salt, and stir until incorporated, and a dough is formed.
  3. Transfer dough to the prepared pan, and bake for around 18 minutes, or until golden brown.
  4. Press the dough back down if it puffs up, and let it cool outside, while you prepare the filling.
For the Filling - 
  1. In a saucepan, cook butter until it turns a deep dark brown, which takes around 5 minutes. Make sure to pay attention, and stir to avoid any burning. Once browned to your liking, pout into a medium glass bowl to prevent furthur browning.
  2. Add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the butter, and mix well.
  3. Mix in the flour and salt.
  4. Arrange whatever berries you are using, on the cooled crust. Pour the filling evenly onto the fruit.
  5. Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until the filling is slightly risen, is golden brown, and a tester inserted comes out clean.
  6. Cool bars in the pan, and then using parchment/foil, take the bars out and cut pieces as big/small as you want. My own preference is to cut them through the fruit, since it just adds to the visual appeal, but ofcourse, you could avoid them if they are giving you any sort of trouble.
Cherry Brown Butter Bars

24 comments:

  1. these look delicious and those cherries .. amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely blog you have here, Avanika. Enjoyed going through it.

    Smita

    ReplyDelete
  3. ooh these look lovely ! Great to share woth friends or carry to the park for a picnic. I adore cherries !

    ReplyDelete
  4. I <3 brown butter...And combined with cherries!! If only I could have one right this minute. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm so glad they turned out for you and that your cherries weren't wasted. These bars look fab!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Natalie - They sure were! Ate soo many of them while I was there!

    Sarahe - :)

    Smita - Thank you! Glad you are enjoying it!

    Kate - Yup, as Deb says, these are so much more practical than a tart. After making these, I totally agree! :)

    Parita - Lol, thank you :) They were! I'm thinking of trying these out with strawberries, or even with chocolate :P

    Valerina - Make them! You'll be glad you did!

    Jacque - Me too, that's why I was cautious before selecting the recipe, and no experimenting! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, those look so rich! I would definitely have fun making these

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yum, these look and sound GREAT! I'm thinking I need to track down some cherries.
    ~ingrid

    ReplyDelete
  9. You have cherries already? I love everything with cherries but I won't see them in a while! The bars sound awesome with the brown butter.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Avantika,
    these look gorgeous.. Any thoughts on how to get thse going, egg free?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Looks really good! Perfect recipe for current cherry season!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ooh I cna smell the gorgeous nutty browned butter and cherries from here. I love using browned butter in things so I can really imagine how gorgeous they would be. Thankyou for sharing the recipe! :D

    ReplyDelete
  13. These look really good...I love cherries... :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Steph - You sure would, though they are more fun to eat :)

    Sweet and savory - Thanks :D

    Ingrid - You do, you do!

    Rita - Nope, these cherries were from Spain. I don't know about the fruit seasons there, but no cherries in India, yet! I love them too :)

    Deepa - Hmmm I'm not really that experienced with eggless cooking, but you could go thick corn-floured custard instead? Mail me, I will talk you through it!

    Vanillastrawberryspringfields - Wow, that's a long name :) They are, though I used them to cheer myself up, only!

    Ellie - Thanks! :D

    Lorraine - I love browned butter too. It adds a kind of depth you can't get elsewhere!

    Jannett - Thank you! I do too, especially these deliciously sweet ones :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Can see you had a wonderful holidays.Agree with you, I find macarons to sweet (and this isn't sour grapes from my Mac Failures!). :D

    Those cherry bars look gorgeous. Never seen cherries like those here.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Gee, that looks so yummy! It didn't look too appetizing raw, floating in the gobs of butter, but it sure turned into a thing of golden beauty when it was baked! It looks like a winner!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Aparna - I did, I did :D Lol.. I sure hope so :P I don't think I'll be making them, more than once, just so I can cross them off my list. I don't thing we will ever be able to see such cherries!

    Cakebrain - Lol.. That's actually a custardy egg thing, that tasted quite good, uncooked. Yup, I'm one of THOSE!! :P

    ReplyDelete
  18. Katrina - Thank you!!

    Jennifer - Thanks!

    The Food Hunter - Gladly :P

    ReplyDelete

Please leave your thoughts below, I'd love to hear from you :-)

Related Posts with Thumbnails